E.U. farmers driving to former U.S.S.R.
I was honoured to participate in a forum of European Landowners Organization. If you are from Africa, you might be mistaken – no – these are not small holder farmers. These are wealthy landowners whose farming activities are “science driven.†I use the term “science†loosely to refer to the focus on the use of measurements to determine the decisions a farmer makes. But now here comes the contradiction…
A Russian delegate asked: “When the U.S.S.R. broke down, we received delegations from Europe and the U.S.A. telling us to drop this approach and that... I am so surprised at the rate at which you are all rushing to the place where U.S.S.R. came from…†Everybody knows where the U.S.S.R. came from? Briefly they had a centrally planned economy; the government determined what was to be produced and how it should be produced. The Russian delegate was reacting to an apparent quest to push the European Union to continue subsidies; over-regulate in the name of food and environmental security; and even pay farmers for offering public goods aka cleaning the environment through crops!
Like the proverbial camel that asked to shelter its head from rain in a tent only to push its hump in and destroy the shelter … when the government pays for it, it will soon control it.
James Shikwati
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